Cable Outreach Encourages Multicultural Voting

Four of the nation’s cable operators will team on a concerted effort to increase voting by the multicultural community.

“Our Time to Vote” is a year-long, non-partisan voter education and registration campaign aimed at the diverse communities served by the cable industry.

Comcast Corp. Time Warner Cable, Cox Communications and Bright House Networks will all air four multicultural public service announcements, featuring appearances by African-American, Asian-American and Hispanic entertainers and leaders, including Ana Ortiz, George Lopez, Lou Diamond Phillips, Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Margaret Cho, who will encourage diverse audiences to vote. The PSAs will begin airing Dec. 15 and lead up through the 2008 primaries.

The outreach, estimated at some $5 million, also includes the launch of two national voter resources, a hotline at 1-866-544-VOTE and a www.ourtimetovote.com site.

Additionally, a series of “Get out the Vote” spots will run from Sept, 1 through Nov. 3, 2008, leading up to the general-election.

“Comcast recognizes that broader participation in the democratic process is important for our nation, and we are very pleased to launch this partnership to pursue that goal,” said Comcast executive vice president David Cohen in a statement. “This campaign reflects the cable industry’s commitment to strong local communities and to active public citizenship.”

Meanwhile, The Comcast Foundation has also awarded grants to help support their nonpartisan voter outreach efforts of the following organizations: Asian Pacific Islander American Vote; the Hispanic Federation; League of United Latin American Citizens; the NAACP National Voter Fund; and National Association of Latino Elected and Appointed Officials Educational Fund.